Depression in the rural elderly has been a little studied phenomenon in this country with a particular lack of reliable data on its prevalence and relationship to epidemiological variables. Prevalence data for diagnosed mental disorders (e.g., depression) have important implications for understanding both the etiology of any particular as well as for public health policy (e.g., allocations of mental health resources). A systematic random sample (n about 1000) of rural elderly (around 65) from two eastcentral Iowa counties will be administered a series of depression screening questions in the context of a separate epidemiological survey funded by the National Institute on Aging. Subjects who meet minimal depression criteria (approximately 20% of the original sample) during the initial screening will be followed up with a reliable psychiatric interview to enable the making of rigorous diagnoses of the depressive disorders. All subjects will be classified into three groups: (a) few depression symptoms (asymptomatic), (b) many depression symptoms (symptomatic), or (c) meets diagnostic criteria for major or minor depressive disorder (depressed). These groups will be compared on relevant variables derived from the initial survey. Data from this investigation will all point prevalence estimates of major and minor affective disorders among the rural elderly. Comparison among the asymptomatic, symptomatic, and depressed groups will allow the testing of hypotheses relating many factors, especially cognitive impairment and lack of social support, to symtomatic and diagnosed depression. Other factors correlated with depression will also be identified.